The Ramsey Show - App - Wife Won’t Let Me Keep My Motorcycle but Mommy Thinks I Should (Hour 2)

Episode Date: December 1, 2021

Home Selling, Budgeting, Career, Relationships, Debt As heard on this episode: Sign Up for a FREE trial of Ramsey+ TODAY: https://bit.ly/3rZTUAx Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: https://bit.ly/2Q64HME Insurance Coverage Checkup: https://bit.ly/3sXwUn5 Complete Guide to Budgeting: https://bit.ly/3utmVXi Check out more Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fHhbVE

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. You jump in, we'll talk about your life and your money. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey Personality.

My co-host today as we answer your questions, Kevin, is in Pennsylvania. Lancaster, to be exact. Hi, Kevin, how are you? Good, Dave, how are you? Better than I deserve deserve what's up great so my wife and i are recently married um we were both homeowners before getting married and uh put the coin i won and we're staying in my house um and selling her so we found a buyer for her house and we're looking at taking home around $90,000.

And I just wanted to get your input on what you felt would be best to do with that. We have about $105,000 left on my house, and it's very tempting to just throw it all at the house, seeing how close it gets us to paying it off. But then the other part of me is wondering. I mean, I don't see us living here longer than a couple of years. Do you have any other debt? No, no.

Do you have any other savings? We have. So my wife was not following the baby step, but she was very frugal. So we do have, once we kind of fully funded the emergency fund, we have maybe another $10,000 that we could throw at it. I'm sorry, you have an emergency fund plus $10,000? Yes, correct. How much is in the emergency fund?

$20,000. Okay, so you have $30,000 plus $90,000. Correct. So you have $120,000 in your position, and you have a $105,000 mortgage balance. That's correct. Okay. Now, I guess the reason I'm asking is because since we're not thinking about living here too much longer. Doesn't matter.

There are some updates that may be done. Doesn't matter. You're not spending the money. It's not going away. When you sell the house, they'll give you a check. Right. Yeah, so It's not going away. When you sell the house, they'll give you a check. Right. Yeah, so that's not a problem. The money's not being lost.

We're not throwing it out the window on the interstate. We're just paying off your house. So, okay, first thing is the two of you need to have more conversations to where we change our pronouns now that we're married. You're now French. Oui. Oui, oui. Yeah. Okay?

Not her house, my house. Not her loan, my loan. Not I won. We have a house that I had before we got married. Now it's ours. I understand. Okay. It's just a matter of the heart, and it's good for your relationship,

and it's good for the communication in this process. So if you're asking mechanically and tactically what I would do if I woke up in your shoes is I would pay off your house as soon as you get the check from the sale of the house, formerly known as hers. Mm-hmm. Okay. And I would skip all the way down the sale of the house informally known as hers. Mm-hmm. Okay. And I would skip all the way down the street. Yeah.

You got $15,000 in your emergency fund. You're 100% debt-free. Awesome. How old are you? That answers my question. Yeah. How old are you? 36.

And you're 34. And what's your household income? Together, it is about $140,000. Yeah, and you have zero payments in the whole world. You're going to be a millionaire so fast, it's going to blow your freaking mind. And that's the goal. Yeah, absolutely. Kevin, you sound sad.

No, I'm happy. I'm excited. The thought of paying off the house is it just i don't know it's just kind of mind-blowing yeah it is exactly it's i mean it felt so far away and then all of a sudden this kind of speeds it up and now it's like staring me in the face so it's it's yeah i'm just kind of just kind of well that's what happens when you marry well. Yeah, congratulations. And by the way, here's how the relational math works. If she loses and you win, you both lose.

Never say the words, I won, ever again. Just don't even speak those into existence. Congratulations, man. That's awesome. You got a great start, sir. JC's with us in Las Vegas. Hi, JC, what's up? Hi, Dave. Hi, man. That's awesome. You got a great start, sir. JC's with us in Las Vegas. Hi, JC. What's up?

Hi, Dave. Hi, John. How are you guys? Great. How can we help? So I have a very unsteady income. I have a degree, and I was working in my field for a little while, and I just decided not to do that anymore. I was teaching and with

COVID and everything, it was a little too much for me. But right now, my unsteady income, like I'm not making ends meet and I'm trying to get out of debt and do the debt snowball and get a thousand dollars in my emergency fund. And it's just a lot, it's just discouraging. And I'm trying to find another job, but going to job fairs, nobody's hiring me. I just don't know what to do. I feel stuck. Why'd you quit teaching? I was teaching out in Las Vegas in the schools. I grew up in the Midwest, so the school, I'm just, like, not used to the demographic, and it was just too much. And there was, like, 50 kids under my, like, I was in charge of 50 kids by myself,

and it was just, it was a lot to handle, and I wasn't getting any support. So it wasn't teaching that was bothering you. You got in an unwieldy situation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so teaching is not the problem. Right. It's, you know, poorly managed schools.

School with bad leadership, yeah. Yeah, that was the problem. So what would be wrong with going back to teaching then? If you had 30 students and people who behaved. Yeah, I mean, that would be fine too. I mean, I tried to go out to Ohio and teach, and I had 30 kids, and it was fine. And then COVID hit, and I was teaching online, and then I was teaching kindergartners online, and it was like it was very difficult for me.

Yeah, but they're back now. So I thought about – I'm sorry? They're back now. Yeah, yeah. I thought about maybe starting my own piano studio. That way then I can still teach, and it would be a little bit better, but I'm not sure. Okay.

Well, I mean, you've identified the problem. The problem is you don't make enough money. And the way you saw the problem, no kidding, Dave, is you make more money. So that's what John and I are both sitting here poking at. What's the shortest distance between where you are and more money? Because the first step with your job is not self-actualization. The first step is not finding your purpose. The first step is eating food and lights and stuff stuff like that and that's where you're struggling and so you know you're

you know and so if you're going to continue to do uh the thing you're doing you're gonna do a whole lot more of it or you've got to change gears get in a different lane and um you know not take the scars of covid and the scars of a poorly chosen first teaching gig with 50 kids and just say that rules out my entire teaching career based on those two experiences of very weird situations so i don't know but what's the shortest distance like what can you be doing by january 1 that pays you four times more than you're making now a lot of stuff actually and not random things at a job fair things that you've already been trained for that pays you four times more than you're making now. A lot of stuff, actually. And not random things at a job fair.

Things that you've already been trained for. So that's what I would aim at. Hang on, I'll send you a copy of Ken's book, Paycheck to Purpose. It'll help you get your family protected. First, term life insurance, it's not expensive. In many cases, it's just plain cheap. Most people are surprised by how much less expensive it is than they thought. Second, life insurance through work is not enough. You need 10 to 12 times your income to protect your family and relying on protection that in most cases you lose when you change jobs is a big mistake. Third, stay-at-home

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You'll get the best deal. All right, today's question comes from Allison in West Virginia. Allison writes, My husband and I became debt-free except our house about a year ago. We have four young children and live frugally on one income. Before we met, his mother co-signed for him to get a motorcycle and Jeep, neither of which he could afford. The motorcycle has been a sticking point in our marriage.

When we were struggling to just put food on the table, I asked which he could afford. The motorcycle has been a sticking point in our marriage. When we were struggling to just put food on the table, I asked him to sell it. He refused and stated that his mother agreed that it's important he keep his motorcycle. Good gosh. I'm sorry. Go ahead. This is like a

Discovery Channel reality show. What is this? He recently was pulled over. My mommy said I can keep it. Discovery Channel reality show. What is this? These people. He recently was pulled over. My mommy said I can keep it. As I'm holding my third child. What's wrong with America?

This. The wussification of America. My mom said I can keep it. My mom said I could keep my motorcycle. I know, honey, but we're hungry. Our children are skinny. I know, but mommy said she gave me the motorcycle. It goes fast. It goes vroom, vroom.

Vroom, vroom. He was recently pulled over for drunk driving. Oh, this gets better. I again asked him to sell the motorcycle to pay for the expenses associated with the DUI, but he refuses. He thinks I'm unnecessarily punishing him for his mistake. Do you think I'm in the wrong for requesting he sell his motorcycle? Wow. No.

I can't breathe. I can tell you how this would go in my house. I would have got home from work one day. The motorcycle would have been long gone. And my wife would have said, you owe $3,000 more to your DUI because we got $7,000 for your motorcycle. Good grief. So the motorcycle is a token of a relationship with his first and original love, his mommy.

And he's not ready to break up with her yet. And you are his side thing. You are his girlfriend. Yeah, it's worse than that, though. This guy's a spoiled freaking little boy. I mean, it's worse than that, though. This guy's a spoiled, freaking little boy. I mean, he's a child. Boy child. I mean, he shouldn't be a husband or a daddy.

He's a boy child. Because he thinks about one thing. Himself. Yeah. This guy's... He's a tool. Adult. this guy's he's this he's a tool um adult oh my god you poor girl oh i'm trying to think of can you imagine saying that to sharon um hey dave we need you to well my mom this would not have this just would not have even come up i

mean it's just not even on the radar sharon wouldn't have been around someone that acted this way to start with she would have smelled this a long time ago so here's the thing i i have bad news for you you have bigger problems than his mother or his motorcycle you have him yes and um boy child is going to be in marriage counseling with his wife where he learns to separate from his mommy and learns to put his family before his own needs and once this is called becoming a man my son and when boy child does that there's a chance your marriage will make it otherwise you are not going to make it three years no you got a you got a guy you actually have a brain darling duis with four little kids he's just yeah and his mommy and his motorcycle he's reckless this is just a

nonsense guy's ruthlessly selfish and uh immature yeah this is hard dave because i don't have men like this in my life you know what i mean like i don't know these guys these aren't men true well played male yeah but that's not a man i mean that's just a little boy child and i don't know if he's 34 or 24 or 64 but he's a boy child he's emotionally a baby child yeah and it's just um the wussification of america and you moms oh my god the chances that my wife would tell my son to put something she bought him between him and his child and groceries you know and groceries would be like zero none she would have knocked him sideways no and that's if i that's if i wasn't around i hadn't already done it so oh my god yeah that you know so you moms come on you grow you grow wusses by doing this and we have way

too much wuss factor in this culture men walking around that are males and aren't men and it's not it's not hungry it's not some kind of toxic masculinity. Kiss my butt. This is actually caring and putting other people's needs before yourself. It is a sign of human emotional maturity. Correct. Jeez. Male or female, but in this case, you little wuss. Oh, my God. Allison, your marriage is in a lot of trouble.

You know that. A lot of trouble. But this is a mess. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry for you, Don. You deserve better than that. You chose poorly. And so now you get, I'm sorry for you, Don. You deserve better than that. You chose poorly. And so now you get to grow him up or cut him loose,

and I hope you can grow him up because I hope it saves your marriage. I don't want those kids to be without their daddy, but they already are. So let's see if we can turn their daddy into something. And it can be done. I mean, I was a little twit myself, and I grew up. So if I can grow up, anybody can grow up, I guess. Oh, my God. Wow, man.

No, I'm not. We do have a manhood crisis in America. All right. Hannah is in Washington, D.C. Hi, Hannah. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, what's up? Thank you.

Thank you so much for everything. You have truly changed our family tree. We're honored. I have a question on whole life insurance policies. Basically, we inherited two of them from my husband's parents and have been paying them for the last 10 years. Gross. And to cash them out, yes.

Well, we're just realizing how bad it is yeah so it will push us from the 22 tax bracket to the 24 tax bracket no and we thought we could cash out part of it no it won't what's that no it won't um this is not taxable well your basis in these your basis in these policies are the total of all the premiums paid the chances of you even getting out the money that you put in is very very low have you already gotten the actual basis or did you just get threatened that it was taxable so we're we have the actual basis because we had that 177 000 was not taxable and 63 000 was taxable okay then when we tried to take it out um so it's from 1993 it's 75 55 a year premium okay so but the thing is when

we tried to take it out they said only 78 percent 78 000 sorry you could take out without incurring taxes. And the rest we would then have to pay taxes on. Who said? Northwestern. Oh, yeah, well, I don't trust Northwestern even further than I can throw them. What you need is the actual basis. Is the actual basis 178 or not? So the document they gave us in September says that the accumulated value is... Not the accumulated value, darling, the basis.

How much have you paid in premiums since the policy was originated? That is the basis. The difference in that and the cash value that you actually receive in your hands is what's taxable. And it's very seldom anything. And so you may have a little taxes, but you probably won't. You need to get with a tax advisor. And even if you go up a little bit in tax bracket, you've got to cut these people loose. Northwestern is gross. We'll be right back. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Greg is with us.

Hey, Greg, how are you? Hey, great. How are you guys doing? Better than we deserve, man. Where do you live? Shreveport, Louisiana. Cool. Welcome to Nashville. How much debt have you paid off greg fifteen thousand and nine months good for you

man and how uh and what was your range of income during that time um started out at thirty thousand per year and transitioned into about 60 65 whoa nice jump what do you do for a living uh right now i sell cars what's your income go up for? What happened? Went from being a groundman, making like $16 an hour, to selling cars, making commission checks. Oh, okay. And cars are selling right now, I hear. Yes, sir. Cars are made of gold these days.

If you have some cars, you can sell them. Right. They're hard to get. But yeah, very cool. Good for you, man. What kind of debt was the $15,000? Student loans and a little bit of credit card, mostly student loans. Okay.

What was your wake-up call 12 months ago when you start knocking this out in nine months? I had a crazy idea of how I was going to – I thought it was going to take like 20 years to get this debt knocked out. I didn't even know how much I had when I started at an electric company. I met a coworker named Zach Wood, and he was just running around telling everybody about financial peace, you know, and just trying to real passionate about getting everybody's helping everybody get their finances in order. And that's when he kind of laid out the plan and showed me the path. And I said, I'm on board. All right. Just like that.

Yeah. OK. So how did you plug into us after Zach did that? You started listening to the podcast or what? Right. Listening to the podcast and, you know, yes, sir. Okay. All right.

Very cool. Very cool. Well, congratulations, man. Thank you. How does it feel to be free? Oh, it feels amazing. How old are you? 32.

You ever been debt free as an adult? No, sir. First time? First time. Wow. It's a different feeling. It's awesome. A sense of power, isn't it? Yes, sir. It feels good. And you're making more money than you ever made in your life, sir. First time? First time. Wow. That's a different feeling. It's awesome. A sense of power, isn't it?

Yes, sir. It feels good. And you're making more money than you ever made in your life, too. Yes, sir. This is good, man. Life's good. It is. It's good.

Praise be to Jesus. Amen. Well done. Have you got that first check that deposited and you got no bills? I have. Feels good, huh? Always. It feels amazing.

You just get to keep all of it? Yeah, just save it up for the next uh career change you know just stacking it up it's well done sir congratulations very well done all right now zach gave you the lowdown so you can give everybody else the lowdown because you've actually done it you it's not a theory you paid off 15 000 in debt in nine months what is the key to getting out of debt um it's just making your mind up you know uh being dedicated don't if if you can't pay for it with cash don't get it and if you have cash for it and you don't need it don't get it just tackle that debt like your life depends on it

total focus yes sir it's a big deal we ever go back in debt no sir you sure absolutely all right way to go, man. You're a hero. You took control of your life in a whole bunch of different areas at one time. Well done. Well done. That's well played. It's good, good, good stuff.

So who were your biggest cheerleaders while you were doing this stuff? Everybody that went through FPU with me, my financial coach, Zach Wood, and then my mom and brother. Okay. So Zach's one of our financial coaches, after all. Yes, sir. Okay. And then you went through Financial Peace University. Oh, this is Zach sitting there.

That's Zach right there. All right. Okay. And he comes along with you for the ride. Yes, sir. This is cool. That's a big-time cheerleader. Makes the trip from Shreveport with you to do the debt-free scream.

Excellent. Good stuff. So at a car dealership, everybody, I mean, that's how people flex, right? Your coworkers are driving their cars in and looking good. People think you're crazy? They do. Like you're just like, you're not spending money. You're driving your old car.

Driving the 94 Chevrolet, no air conditioner, loving it. You know what I mean? It's hot in Shreveport. Hey, you know it is in the summertime. Just roll them windows down and just. Now you can get the air fixed okay yeah that's right at least if not move up in car right save up and pay cash or make you a move yeah you probably see some deals come through not right now but it may be by spring

maybe it'll loosen up a little bit right good stuff man well done what was the hardest part for you uh the hardest part is the career change, selling cars. You know, I don't really enjoy it. I just knew that I could have the opportunity to make some good money to get this debt paid off quicker and move towards the goals. Okay. All right. So what is it you want to do? I want to be a pilot.

Oh. Mm-hmm. Do some missionary work, and, you know, the ultimate goal is helicopter pilot. Okay. All right. And just kind of see what kind of doors are opened up, you know. Mm-hmm. Well, that'll take a few coins.

It will. To get trained up and be ready to go, but you can do it. Yes, sir. Very good stuff. Congratulations, man. That's good. Very fun. Fun stuff.

Well, very good. We got a copy of the book Baby Steps Millionaires for you, an advanced copy. It comes out actually in January, but we're going to get you an early copy. Okay. Thank you. It's called the Advanced Reader Copy, the ARC, and it's what we send out to the press as early. And so we're going to get you one. And a copy of Total Money Makeover for you to give away like Zach gave you the ideas,

and you'll have it in your hand. You can hand it to somebody and get them started on their journey like he did for you. Awesome. Very good stuff. Very proud of you, Greg. Thank you. their journey like he did for you awesome very good stuff very proud of you greg thank y'all well done man it's an honor to meet you you took control of your life and i'm always honored to meet men and women who bother to do that it's an honor to be here yeah good stuff good stuff all right greg from shreveport louisiana 15 000 paid off in nine months making 30 to 65 count it down let's hear a debt-free scream three two one i'm debt-free yeah that's how it's done you know what is so interesting to me after doing this for 30 years is that people just decide they just decide i'm

not doing anymore and and they've been going along like a whole different whole wrong direction for decades maybe and then they just they they get a some new information and they see a system they can use maybe and then they just decide. It's like they completely turn around and go the other direction. The power of personal choice is amazing. I wonder how much, and I'm just thinking this just now, I wonder how much a picture of somebody like you, to the people listening, to somebody like Zach who kept talking about this,

most people never met an adult that's debt-free. They don't get to see that lightness, that smile, that joy, that just, you know what I mean? They get to see a picture of it, and then they've got a plan to follow. Man, and then now, let's go make it happen. When you get in the group with Financial Picture University, you get community around you. Yes, it's so good. But, you know, obviously that's the money formula, but in anything, I'm just amazed. I mean, I know people, and you do too, that they just woke up and said, I'm done.

I don't smoke anymore. Yeah, I'm done. I used to smoke. Would you do the patch? No, I just decided I wasn't doing it anymore. Was it hard? Yeah, but I decided I wasn't doing it anymore. I was talking to one of our team members today. He lost 42 and i'm like uh i was having lunch with him he wasn't

that much of a lunch but um i'm like what what'd you do and he goes i ate less i just decided i'm not doing this and he goes and you know it just decided 42 pounds well you know i just decided you know and you gotta you gotta have know, and you got to have, there's something that has to happen there. You get disturbed enough about where you are, disgusted enough about where you are, number one. But number two, the power of the human, of a human being, the dignity of a human being,

the power of choice to just decide, I'm going to change. Today's the day, yeah. That's it. And it's going to be hard. It's going to be uncomfortable. It's going to be challenging. It's going to be long. But then still. I'm done. Yeah, but I'm done. change. Today's the day, yeah. That's it. And it's going to be hard. It's going to be uncomfortable. It's going to be challenging. It's going to be long.

But still, I'm done. Yeah, but I'm done. I think it's an identity shift. It's a switch flip. Yeah. Yeah, it's like, I'm not that anymore. I'm a non-smoker now, starting now. You know what I mean?

I used to smoke. Yeah. I used to be 42 pounds heavier. Yep. I used to be $15,000 in debt. I'm the guy who takes care of his body now. I'm the guy who takes care of my finances. You know, I used to speak poorly of my wife. I never do that anymore. That's exactly right. I used to not tell the truth, and now I tell the truth. I'm done.

And people just decide. It's so spiritually and emotionally and psychologically powerful. And it's so draining when you meet someone who thinks they don't have the choice to decide. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. You have the choice. You can just decide.

You can't decide to be three feet taller, but you can decide to change your behaviors. Behaviors, you can just decide. You know, I don't act like that anymore. You can decide. I used to act like that, but I don't act like that anymore. I can just decide. It's so powerful. Hard choices, yes.

Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. Congratulations, Bill. By the renewing of your mind. That's how it works. Wow. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today as we answer your questions about your life and your money. Scott is in Corpus Christi, Texas. Hi, Scott. How are you?

Well, I'm doing well. Thank you for taking my phone call. Sure. My question, I'll keep it real quick. I'm 54 years old. It took me 54 years to be almost an overnight success. After unwinding a lot of properties, my life and our down due, one of the lessons we have, after we sell it, we pay everything off.

We'll have about $100,000 in cash. But we have a condo that we're living in that we owe 90 on it. The loan is 2.6%. Actually, it's two and a quarter percent. So it's a pretty good rate. We won't have any other debt. We do have a very strong income stream. We were planning on paying it down, you know, still aggressively. But the question is, do I put the money toward the loan and just

pay it off and come in there and be like the last guys and scream i'm debt free or do i continue to take that money invested in other areas and just continue to do it i'm doing the pay off the house you've been buying real estate a long time haven't you yeah uh i have i can i can tell you how to do it wrong. Okay. Well, those of us that love real estate and have grown up and spent amazing amounts of time in that world, one of the things they do before you can start being a real estate investor is they take you in a side room and they break your risk meter. You no have the ability to measure risk um because it just it because people that buy and sell real estate with that are taking amazing amounts of risk and don't seem to grasp

it me included i i did the same thing as you know i went broke many years ago doing this and so and i've just noticed that they just the risk tolerance in other words is is astronomical and it causes you to say it causes you to say things like uh the loan's only 2.7 percent yeah like i i hear myself saying it yeah yeah so here let me ask you a couple questions and this will this will reveal uh it'll take you where you know I'm going to take you. Sure. If the condo was paid off and you had $10,000 or $15,000 in the bank and you could borrow the money at 2%,

would you go borrow $100,000 against a paid-for condo in order to have $100,000 in the bank? No, I wouldn't do that. Same thing. I just did it in reverse. I just reversed engineered it, right? I hear what you're saying, yeah. It's the exact same decision.

So I look at you and I say, okay, you have a loan. Let's say you have an investment that you can make 10% on. Then you would go borrow against your paid-for condo. You wouldn't have said no. I got your point. It's the same equation. The difference is when I make you borrow on your paid-for condo in our discussion, hypothetically, even though it didn't actually occur,

just the discussion of it, your heart started moving. And you're doing all your analysis in your head. Your heart is where you measure risk. Your head's where you do math. I'm so close to being debt-free. Exactly. I have never in 30 years had someone go, you know, I paid off my condo, and it was the dumbest thing I've ever done.

I'm an idiot. And I went back into debt because dave ramsey gave me really bad advice i have never heard that ever one time oh my gosh yeah pay it off pay it off and use your great income stream to pile up some cash and go buy some more paid for real estate with a piled up cash scott how long you been working on this oh goodness gracious. You know, I've had a lot of different careers, a lot of different jobs. So, I mean, it's hard for me to answer that question for you.

It's been a process to get to where I'm at. And it's, you know, like anyone else, no one works any harder than anyone else, but some people get a little luckier, and the decisions that you make can really change and shape the direction of your life. Here's the thing. The people that become highly successful in any area of their life, wealth building included, do not do it on singular decisions.

They do it on an accumulation of small, wise decisions. And you can blow it all up with one bad decision, but you never make it on one good decision. It's an accumulation, a snowball effect of all the tiny little good decisions you've made over a long period of time. And that's what's brought you to this positive place you are. You've made a lot of small, good decisions to get to where

we even have this discussion versus where you were 10 years ago so you're doing really good all of that to say you called to ask me what i would do i would pay off your condo i've never had a dissatisfied customer on that one i've had a lot of critics about theoretical discussions writing money blogs from their mother's basement but i've never had someone who actually paid off their house and was pissed off right never had never had them pissed off at me about a lot of different things over the years but not that one so all right evan is with us in sterling virginia hi evan how are you doing very well how are you better than i deserve what's up so uh coming up here soon wait a minute you're not talking directly into your phone we can't hear

you try again oh no can you hear me now yes sir okay um so looking at a few life changes coming up soon. About 10 months ago, me and my wife had our first daughter. Yay. Super awesome. Super happy. My wife is a teacher and I'm a photographer. Together we bring home about 80,000-ish, give or take, a year. But with the craziness that has been going on in the school systems here in virginia uh my wife has kind of hit her limit uh as well as she's really looking to kind of stay

home with our daughter um and we are currently fluctuating back and forth between baby step two and one um and i was just wondering she's planning on uh leaving her job in june so that's about seven months ish how much debt do you have left um we have a combined total of like 26 000 what does she teach? Second grade. Reading, then? Basically, yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, that's one of the key elements of teaching second grade, typically. So what I was reaching for is this. Between now and June, I want her to begin to build a robust tutoring company

where she tutors grade schoolers on reading okay and she can make more doing that than she can in the classroom if you'll build it crazy money and she's in complete control of her environment then which is what she's complaining about now right right and she can do that and still be around your baby that's very true. She was talking about trying to figure out a way if she's at home to possibly make some money. I think she can make more than she makes now. Okay, cool. But let's start the business now. Okay.

Launch it in January. Get it all mapped out. Start studying what tutors charge, where they get their customers, how you're going to get people to come, and they're going to come to your house, or they're going to come somewhere else, and how you're going to run this business, and how you're going to bill up front, by the way. And, you know, and are you going to sell packages by the hour, or how you're going to do it, and how do other tutors in your area price,

and where do they advertise? And you've got to build a business now. And you've got seven months to do it. Yes, sir. And you might have to look at your photography operation and say, what do I got to do differently now? Because we're in this together, this is a team, and our global income is going to shift for a season.

Yeah, you're going to have to gear up. So you may have to take more jobs, different jobs. You may have to go get a clock in, clock out job. Who knows? But you've got to be get a a clock in clock out job who knows but you got to be honest with yourself about your photography business and what tomorrow's gonna look like for your whole household too right yeah so here's the thing the point being you're going to be out of debt by the time she quits but you don't even have to take a step back in income when she quits

okay household i think you can build it out hold on i'll have laura send you a copy of christy writes businessoutique book, Equipping Women to Make Money Doing What They Love. That's the name of the book. So exactly where you are here. Yeah. We've got an exodus of teachers, man. It's breaking my heart. We have an exodus of people in a lot of fields.

Service industries, man. A lot of fields. And it has more to do with politics than it does actually the field. Unbelievable. And, you know, we're losing some of our best servants in every area of our world. So sad.

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